One Night in Bangkok
by MinervaDeannaBond
Summary: The tough guys of the Starlight Motel will soon tumble after Jessica's second outing as the Queen of Tarts, and Seth is playing the knight to his queen in this real-life chess match. Novelization/"deleted scene" from S5E10, "Weave a Tangled Web." Third in the Queen of Tarts Trilogy.


I couldn't help myself. I love the episode "Weave a Tangled Web" so much that I wrote _three _stories about it. In this, the capstone of what is now the Queen of Tarts trilogy, the other classic bar scene from the episode is novelized and two "deleted scenes" are introduced. It's a real-life chess match, in which Jessica uses her wits in a sensual world and Seth gets to show his protective side - and love for the queen of his heart.

* * *

><p>"This is going to be a real night in Bangkok, Seth."<p>

Up until this point, the only sound breaking the silence in the car was the gentle ringle-jingle of Vivian Proctor's car keys as they were twirled through long, elegant fingers. To hear his best friend's voice all of a sudden brought Seth Hazlitt's eyes away from the road for a brief moment. "Hmm? What'd you say, Jess?"

"This night at the Starlight Motel. It's going to be a real night in Bangkok."

Seth frowned. "Would you care to elaborate for the sake of a poor confused Yankee doctor?"

Jessica Fletcher's red-rouged lips curved into a smile. "You know, like the song. Haven't you ever heard the song 'One Night in Bangkok'?"

"No, I can't say I haven't, considering I don't listen to that New Wave stuff you like so much. What's it about, Oriental pleasures?"

"Actually, quite the opposite. It's about chess."

Seth's head jerked back to Jessica in surprise. "_Chess_? There's actually a song about chess?"

Jessica laughed. "I knew that'd catch your attention! Yes, there is a song about chess. It's about a young man who's in Bangkok for a chess tournament. He spends his time focusing on the game and the reward that awaits him rather than the sensual excesses of the city that his friends prefer to indulge in."

Seth stayed silent, absorbing this information. "Hmm. Ayuh, I can see how it'd match up to what you're doing at the Starlight Motel. You're goin' to one of the shadiest places in Cabot Cove and goin' after something good instead of gettin' bogged down in sensual excesses, as you said." He suddenly smiled, inspiration striking. "And what we've been doin' for the last couple of nights is kinda like a chess game, if you think about it."

"Really?"

"Ayuh. Eric Bowman was a pawn who got eliminated from the board, the bartender at the motel is another pawn, and that Augie fella is the king. Vivian Proctor is the queen who's trapped by the king and the pawn, and you're the other queen, the one who's gonna capture the pawn and check the king." Seth rounded a curve and threw her a smile. "Which makes sense. You _are _the Queen of Tarts, after all."

Jessica grinned and smacked his arm. "And what does that make you? My knight in shining armor?"

"Your words, not mine."

"Oh, _Seth_!"

Seth chuckled and glanced over at her again, at her ruffled blonde hair and her bright red blouse. "Y'know, that blouse kinda looks Oriental, too. All silky-lookin' with those big flowers."

Jessica looked down at her blouse and felt a laugh bubbling up. "Oh goodness, you're right! It does have that look, doesn't it?" She giggled and sobered as she looked down at the keys in her hand. Thinking of Vivian, she jingled them again. "This will work. It has to."

"I think it will. You went in last night and nobody suspected a thing. Just..."

"I know, be careful. I will, Seth. I promise." Jessica reached for the radio and turned it on. "Well, what do you know? Here's the song."

Seth allowed the song to permeate his ears as the drive to the Starlight Motel continued. Surprisingly enough, he enjoyed it more than he would have cared to admit – and it _did _sound like a metaphor for this whole snoop job. "Not bad. So, _is _this bar a temple?"

"If the main forms of worship are gambling and drinking, then yes. And _this _pearl is definitely not free."

_Good, _Seth thought, rounding a corner and inhaling a breath as the Starlight Motel came into view. He pulled into the nearest parking space and let Jessica out, keeping a close eye on her until she was safely inside. _The Devil's walking beside her, all right. Lord, keep her safe._

* * *

><p>"Another one, ma'am?"<p>

"Oh, sure." Jessica didn't even look up as Frankie poured yet another shot of Jack into the glass in front of her. The ochre liquid splashed against its clear confinement, no doubt appealing to every other patron in the Starlight Motel bar. To her, its only appeal was in its ability to aid as a prop in this game for the second time.

So far, the game was not going well. Augie, no doubt worried that the pair of hot pants in red would show up to pester him again, was nowhere to be seen. Frankie, however, was still working the bar, hovering near Jessica like a needy puppy. Jessica had to wonder, though, if it had less to do with her lonely-tart act and more to do with her outfit. Frankie didn't strike her as the lecherous type, but he was a man, after all. And he was still hanging around, watching her intently. _You're the queen. He's the pawn. Make your move._

"Let me tell you, Frankie," she drawled, putting on the Brooklyn accent, "drinking alone isn't my idea of having fun."

Frankie offered her a slight smile. "Well, sometimes it picks up a little later on."

_You sound a little too hopeful, Frankie. _"You think Augie'll be in?"

A frown line puckered between Frankie's eyes. Whether he was jealous because Jessica was so interested in Augie or scared that she would find something out, she couldn't tell. "Augie?"

Jessica rubbed her fingers behind her left ear, holding her whiskey glass and lightly swirling the liquor. "Oh come on, Frankie, I'm cool," she protested, ensuring to give him the big, innocent eyes and the slightest hint of a whine in her voice. "Listen, I've got a friend who works for a trainer at Suffolk Downs. And if I don't lay down a bet, I'm kissin' a sure thing goodbye." She set her glass down and leaned inward. "Now how about his phone number?"

Frankie flushed and scratched the back of his head. "Oh, no, no," he objected with a nervous chuckle. "I don't think he'd like it if I did that."

He could protest all he wanted, but Jessica knew that she had him hooked. All she had to do was give him the doe eyes again and make him an offer he couldn't refuse. In other words, she had to appeal to his heart and to his wallet. "Look, I'm not supposed to breathe a word about this to anybody, but you give me Augie's number and I'll cut you in." She pulled out the Suffolk Downs racing form and pointed out a certain horse that everyone was betting on. "Look, he's 16 to one in the morning line."

Frankie gazed at her for a heartbeat, something flickering behind his limpid eyes. _Keep the doe eyes going, Jessica, _she thought to herself, entreating him with her own stare. It felt a little odd to be doing so, though. Jessica wasn't the kind of woman who used her looks to get what she wanted, probably because she had never considered herself a beauty. Yet for some reason, a lot of men seemed to fall all over themselves around her, and that was when she _wasn't _dressed like the Queen of Tarts. Frankie wasn't coming on to her or acting like a lovestruck schoolboy, but he was still affected by her eyes, she could tell. _Check and mate. I've got him._

Finally, he glanced around, checking to ensure that no one was in earshot of their conversation, and leaned toward her. "All right, look," he said quietly, taking out a small slip of paper and hurriedly scrawling a phone number on it. He held the little scrap out to her and gave her a pleading look of his own. "Just remember, you didn't get this from me."

_Oh, no. Nothing to connect you with Eric Bowman's murder, I'm sure. No worries, Frankie. I won't mention this to Augie. It'll be more fun to sit back and watch him figure it out for himself. That way, he can lead Sheriff Metzger right to the both of you. _But, of course, Jessica didn't voice any of these thoughts. She shook her head confidentially at Frankie and gave him a smile when she took the phone number in hand. He flashed her a relieved half-grin in return and returned to his earlier work of slicing lemons.

While he was thus occupied, Jessica seized the opportunity to pay for her untouched whiskey… and to send Frankie a little message. She dug inside her purse and fished out two items: a twenty-dollar bill and Vivian Proctor's car keys. When Vivian herself had mentioned that she had left them on the bar, Jessica knew she had the bait to reel Frankie in. Thankfully, the keys were in Sheriff Metzger's possession and Floyd, bless his heart, had been gracious enough to let her borrow them for this little spy mission. Careful to conceal the keys in her hand, she surreptitiously laid them on the bar counter and placed the twenty on top. She then gave the phone number a smacking kiss, catching Frankie's attention. Grinning, she pointed to the money and winked, then hopped off the bar stool and sashayed toward the door.

Halfway, she stopped, stealing a look back at Frankie while under the guise of checking her purse. The bartender picked up the twenty and froze when he saw the keys. He then took the keys in hand as though he were handling a tarantula, definite fear showing on his face. His eyes flashed over to Jessica, but then darted back to the keys. His eyes were also going to the rear exit, as though he were hoping to escape. If he was putting two and two together, and Jessica was sure he was, he would guess the message and make tracks before Augie could catch him. _We'll see about that, _Jessica thought, rolling her eyes as she made for the door.

Unfortunately, trouble was waiting as soon as she stepped outside. A muscular, thirty-something man stepped in front of her, barring her from going any further. "Where you goin', pretty mama?"

Jessica slammed on the brakes, almost dropping her Queen of Tarts act, but drew herself up and raised her chin at the guy. "Crazy. Wanna come?"

_Think before you speak, Jessica. _The guy merely laughed and took that as an invitation, stepping close to her. "Already been there. It's fun." His eyes roamed over her, lingering a little too long on her chest. "I've been watching you in there, dancin' and struttin' your stuff. You've got a great body for an older broad."

The compliment dripped with lust, giving Jessica good reason to peer over the guy's shoulder toward Seth's car. If he was watching this whole thing, no doubt he was preparing to leap out, run over, and pound the crap out of this guy. As much as she would have appreciated the chivalry, Jessica was actually praying he would stay put. She had an idea for getting rid of this chap before all hell broke loose. "Well, thank you, sweetheart," she said, offering him a grin. "I didn't think anybody wanted to dance with me."

"Aw, come on! I woulda danced with you if you'd asked."

"Why didn't _you _ask?"

"I'm askin' now. You wanna go get some dinner? I know this great little pizza joint not far from here."

There was the opener she'd wanted. "I can't make it tonight. I've gotta see a man about a horse. But here..." She took a spare piece of scrap paper and a pen out of her purse and scrawled a number and name down on it. "Here's my name and number. Call me, okay?"

The guy's face broke into a dumb horse grin. "You bet! Anything for a beautiful dame like you."

Jessica laughed and gave his shoulder a slap. "Oh, stop it, ya big lug." _Really. Stop it. _She twiddled him a wave and sauntered off to Seth's car, breathing a silent prayer of thanks that her "date" wasn't following her.

* * *

><p>"What the devil are you doing, woman?"<p>

Seth didn't like what he saw. Not one little bit. It had been all he could do to restrain himself when that big ape of a guy, the BMOC type who acted like God's gift to women, blocked Jessica from going any farther. _Get away from her! _he wanted to yell. He wanted to get out of this car, run over like a raging bull, and pound the tar out of that jackass until he knew for sure that Jessica was safe. Yet, he kept himself parked. Jessica would not be pleased at all if he came charging to her rescue, and _if _he did, he'd be paying for it big time.

_What? What the heck! _Seth's jaw dropped and he mashed his nose to the window of the car as he saw Jessica write something down on a piece of paper and hand it to that fathead, who gave her a big, stupid grin in return. And darned if Jessica didn't wave back at him! Seth sat back in his seat in a huff, seething. Oh, they were going to have words when she got back in the car, and that was a promise.

The passenger door opened and Jessica eased herself in, but she didn't even have time to get herself situated before Seth let her have it. "Jessica Beatrice Fletcher, what the _Sam Hill _were you doing with that... that _bozo _out there?" He didn't even give her time to answer before launching in on her again. "Did you seriously give him your _phone number_?"

Jessica frowned. "Seth..."

"What were you _thinking, _woman?"

"_Seth._"

"Do you want him comin' after you?"

"_Seth!_" Jessica yelled, her hands shooting out to latch onto his shoulders. "For heaven's sake, will you let me explain?"

Seth pressed his lips together, the _you're better _going unsaid. The last thing he needed was to get into an argument about how he didn't own her. No, he didn't. He never thought that he _owned _her, but he still felt overwhelmingly protective of her. If you loved someone, weren't you supposed to protect them? Nevertheless, he kept his mouth shut and waited for her to speak.

"All right. Now that you're done ranting, here's what happened. That man did approach me and he asked me for a date. I said I had to see a man about a horse, which is more or less true, considering that I have to give Augie a call. And yes, I did write down a name and number on that scrap of paper, but they were both fake."

Seth felt the blood drain from his face. "Fake? What did you write down?"

The old spark of mischief returned to Jessica's eyes. "I wrote down 867-5309 and 'ask for Jenny.'" She burst out laughing at Seth's dumbfounded expression. "He'll be in for a big surprise when he calls _that _number!" She gave his shoulders an affectionate squeeze. "Satisfied?"

"Ayuh. I also feel like a horse's fanny for reacting the way I did." Seth sighed, his face now red from embarrassment. "I should've trusted you to get out of it on your own instead of being so protective."

"Oh, Seth..." Jessica leaned across the car and gave him a hug. "Do you have any idea how glad I am that you're protective? True, you do overdo it sometimes, but your heart is always, always in the right place. If you weren't as protective of me as you are, you wouldn't be out here with me, helping me to solve this murder. It's good to know I have someone looking out for me."

At long last, Seth cracked a smile. "Somebody's got to." He started the car and turned them onto the road home. "So, did you get what you came for?"

"I did. I got Augie's phone number and I'm going to invite him over for a minute or two. And before you start in on me for inviting a murder suspect into my house, I will be fine. Augie will be more concerned about his money than me, and I'll give Sheriff Metzger a call before I even get in touch with Augie. Everything will work out."

"And you don't want me to hide in your house, ready to defend you if needs be." Seth sighed. "All right, you win. You're just not the damsel in distress type, and thank God you're not. I like watching out for you, but it'd kill me if you swooned every time a killer so much as blew his nose."

Jessica laughed. "No, that's not me. But honestly, being guilty of love in the first degree isn't a bad thing."

Seth chuckled. "What can I say? I'm a knight protecting a queen."

"And thank goodness, the chess game will soon be over." Jessica smiled over at her knight, protector, and friend. "One night in Bangkok is stressful. Two is murder."


End file.
